1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a load drive circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a power supply box (hereinafter referred to as unit) for distributing electric power from a power supply in a vehicle, utilization of semiconductors is expanding so as to cope with requirement for weight reduction and power saving. Further in order to promote miniaturization, utilization of a configuration combining a conventional printer driver and an MOSFET (or other device) is expanding, or utilization of an IPD (Intelligent Power Device) as a device integrating a driver and a control circuit having a protection function is expanding. An example of the IPD is disclosed in below-described Patent Document 1. These devices mostly contain a low-voltage shut-off function for preventing overheat caused by increase of an on-resistance upon voltage drop.